About Me

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Birmingham, AL, United States
Working hard on becoming a Craft Superhero, one leap at a time!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Shop reopened!


Ahhh! It feels so good to have a little gusto back. My back is not so sore, and I have been reinvigorated with energy for crafting, yay! (Ok, haven't officially "crafted" since making my beanbags the other night, but I have nonetheless been productive!)


Firstly, I don't have my stock back yet from Skunk Fest, but I had a few items on top of my cd rack that I had not yet listed, so all five went up on my etsy site today, and when I get the rest of my stock back, I will begin adding the remaining peices. I swear I will get all my stock on etsy, I have never accomplished this feat, but I am getting better at the shooting photos, loading, editing, and listing. It is so overwhelming at first, but I've got a rythm to it now. So that is my big etsy goal. Once every item is officially listed, I will actually start producing more items! How exciting is that?


I also "got my craft back on" on my favorite networking site, My Craft Corner. It is kind of like a facebook for etsians and other crafters. Great support network and growing so fast, so I started a thread seeing if everyone was into using MCC as a tag for their items, and it seems so far like a hit of an idea, and I have already tagged my items with it. That is a good thing. Ad look at me now! BLOGGING! Whooo! I also gave out a bunch of my brand spanking new business cards to a bunch of Mommies in my Mommy group. More on them later, they have a cool blog I'll talk about in another post soon.


Allrighty. I just got home from a trip to LaZBoy and purchased a new chair for nursing, a must, especially if I end up with another dreaded Csection. (My Dr appointment this morning showed absolutely no promise of an on time delivery!)


wowwee Zowee, I am pooped, but very excited about all the new stuff in the crisp cool Fall air! Enjoy the changes the season brings to you!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

The SuperTaylors!

Costumes Completed and Worn by the Whole Taylor Clan!
I have been pretty laid up lately with what I will call "pregnancy back." A lot of couch time, a lot of hot baths, a lot of diaper changes and meals served on the floor instead of lifting the kid into the highchair. I do it to myself, I know I should be slowing down, but I am very active in my Mommy group. It has come down to one hour of fun equaling two days of being laid up on the couch.

Worth it? Look at this picture of us at Boo at the Zoo and you tell me! I had Daddy do all the heavy lifting, (he even lifted my purse into and out of the stroller) I just pushed (leaned on) the stroller and followed them around. So worth it. Lincoln had so much fun and it was easy to keep track of him!

This was the final result of my backbreaking measly few hours ( oh probably around 8-10)making our Super Taylor Costumes. We decided that we were "Super Baby", "Super Beard", and "Super Pregnant."

My time has been spent mostly relaxing, but I have my bursts: the Super Costumes, about 5 Mommy events a week, (yeah, that is coming to a swift halt!) and I just this weekend for the first time, closed my etsy shop and sent all my stuff to the Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival to be sold at the merch booth. I did pretty ok, considering the sales were slow all around due to the freezing weather. It is an outside all weekend camping event. I was also relieved that sales were on the slow side since I really let down my promise of Skunks, I was hoping to make around 40, and I only put out ten. (See previous posts about the great Polyfil Search of 2009, Skunks for Skyla, as well as many posts outlining my late pregnancy laziness) As of my last cell convo with my salesbooth helper, I sold about five skunks, nine robots, three stars, and a few postcards. I can certainly live with that, and since I didn't provide that many skunks, I am going ahead and donating 30% across the top from all sales to my fencing friend Skyla.

So, crafting has been slow but steady. I made a sale on etsy this week right before I sent off my stuff for the weekend, and after finishing the costumes, I got around to making beanbags for our Mommy group Halloween party. Those turned out very cute, I just finished them right before this post.

Allright, enough of this upright position, I am going back to my couch! Have a very Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I've been tagged by a blogger! yeah!

I am slow to blog these days, I'll go ahead and fall back on the "I'm just so pregnant" auto response I have been so dependant upon these past few weeks.

MAB jewelry has tagged me for a blog post, and declared that I have an over the top blog! I've won a major award! The trick is that I have to answer the following questions with one word answers, and then tag others to spread the joy. So, here we go.

Wait a SEC! Did that say ONE word answers? This is going to be a challenge!

1 Where is your cell phone? toddler
2 Your hair? wonky
3 Your mother? Vegas
4 Your father? Hawaii
5 Your Favorite food? Pineapple
6 Your dream last night? Inappropriate
7 Your favorite drink? Peppermint
8 Your dream/goal? CraftHero
9 What room are you in? couch
10 Your hobby? robots
11 Your fear? epidural
12 Where do you want to be in six years? done breeding!
13 Where were you last night? Birthclass
14 Something that you aren't? quiet
15 Muffins? English
16 Wish list item? Dressform
17 Where did you grow up? Earth!
18 Last thing you did? cuddle
19 What are you wearing? maternity
20 Your TV? Yo Gabba Gabba
21 Your pets? Bella
22 Friends? Lots!
23 Your life? Full
24 Your mood? Pregnant
25 Missing someone? nope!
26 Vehicle? Mommobile!
27 Something you're not wearing? bikini
28 Your favorite store? WholeFoods
29 Your favorite color? Orange
30 When was the last time you laughed? Today
31 Last time you cried? Pregnant!
32 Your best friend? Awesome
33 One place that I go over and over? JoannFabric
34 One person who Emails you regularly? facebook
35 Favorite place to eat? Home!

Now to tag all of these wonderful and over the top blogs:
The Jaunty Gourmand
Mom Has Class
Oh, Kevi
Serendipity Handmade
The Forgotten Brush
Where Eagles Dare
Cameron Builds It

Sunday, October 11, 2009

HalloCrafty!











Lazy bones is back! I have let go of my daily blog habit. I now blissfully relapse! I have been crazy busy lately, running all over town, hosting playgroups, planning parties, and spending my online hours doing Mommy group stuffs, it's practically a FT job. Plus, my pregnancy has officially slowed my butt way down. 3 more weeks...








My crafting has suffered. Immensly. I have an all new list of projects, all with pressing deadlines, which is exactly when my super procrastination kicks in!








Speaking of Super... Finally with hubby home all day yesterday, I peeled that cover off my sewing machine and went to town! I spent at least 8 hrs yesterday and made all three of our Halloween costumes. Yes, I opened that well organized craft box of materials labeled "Project Superhero" and made Taylor history. Well, I think it went well anyway. All I did was make three Superhero capes and three Superhero belts. I had to, since today was wear your costumes day.








I plan on embellishing further, since we have two more dress up events. I'd like to make some arm cuffs and maybe add some lightening bolts on the front of the chest or back of the cape. All in the gold, of course. But I really cannot complain with the minimum I finished, I mean just take a look at this baby in tights!








Now with the sewing machine dusted off, I must finish making beanbags for the Mommy group Halloween Party by Tuesday, and another assembly line of skunks by next weekend for the Skunkfest. Whew! Nothing like serious procrastinating to get some fire under your butt! Feels just like college.








I'll be back tomorrow with another post, I was tagged and need to get that ball rolling. Thanks to MAB for bringing me back to my blog!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Hello!



I was putting off blogging today since I could not think of how I have done anything to help my crafting out, and this is quickly turning into a Mommy/Pregnancy blog!



But I DID do something today! It only took a sec, though. I ordered new business cards for my etsy biz through VistaPrint. It was crazy, crazy cheap. I got 1500 cards, some address labels and a personalized post-its pad for $30 bucks. Here is the photo I used for the design





You will have to weed through many special offers, but you'll survive. It was very quick and easy. I chose the super slow shipping of 11 days. I have found that the slowest shipping is still faster than they say it will be most of the time, and if it takes 11 days, I will certainly survive. Plus, I just bought new ink cartridges, so if I need to print a few at home to hold me over, I can.



Also, I made an etsy purchase today. (Putting the etsy Karma out there never hurts!) I am a huge fan of mineral makeup, I started out with Bare Minerals, but this girl makes it herself and it ends up being around 8 bucks cheaper. For those of you who haven't tried it out yet, mineral makeup stays put and looks like you have been airbrushed but aren't wearing any makeup. It saved my sanity my first pregnancy and I still rely on it to make me feel pretty without a mask!



Speaking of feeling pretty, when did I get this huge? I went to the Botanical Gardens today with my in laws and the boy, and whoah! Is that me in that picture? I didn't look like that last week! It was one of those reality checks. I thought I was looking great, but the picture don't lie! It's right here... Oh wait, I must have done something during the download, I can't seem to find it.. Sorry! Guess I can't share afterall. Shucks, and I was so looking forward to you all seeing me in my fullest 9 month pregnant glory! :)



Lessons learned today?


  1. Pregnancy clothes you bought a month ago will no longer fit in the final countdown.

  2. Vistaprint has great deals on business cards

  3. Shop at etsy.com


Nuff said, have a great night!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Skunks for Skyla!


Allrighty, as much as I absolutely HATE to brag, I made yet another sale yesterday, this time for three items! The most exciting thing was that they bought my first Skunk, so I got to send a donation to my friend Skyla! So here we go with the official Skunks for Skyla post!

I was planning on attending the Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival (ASBF) like I have every year for the past 8 years. So I started a line of Albino Skunk neck pillows. They are awfully cute, or so I think anyways! I was going to set up a booth at the Festival and sell them. Well, the founders of ASBF happen to be one of my very closest friend's inlaws (The first year we went was a "date" for her and her now husband!)It just so happens that said friend has this AMAZING 14 year old daughter, who I have known since she was three.

Introducing, Miss Skyla Powers, fencer extraordinaire! Skyla is a World Champion fencer out of Nellya Fencers in Atlanta. That's no exaggeration, she actually has a "World Champion" title. In order to keep her ranking, Skyla must travel the world to compete. She just got back from Poland and goes back later this month! So, this gets extrememly expensive, of course. She has alot of work and competing ahead of her to earn her way into the Olympics, but she is dedicated and easily has the talent. It is mostly about the ability to continue to compete all over the globe!

In comes my big brainy idea..."Skunks for Skyla!" I will be sending $5 from each Skunk sold to help with Skyla's dreams. I know, it isn't much, but If I sell a TON of skunks, at least they will be able to afford a hotel room here and there! Although, unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the ASBF this year (my due date is much too close to be in the middle of a weekend camping trip in rural Greer, SC) but thankfully, I have connections and they will be sold at the fest anyways!

They are available in my etsy shop
and if you don't want to buy a skunk but want to help our little Olympic hopeful, here is Skyla's blog which has a paypal link. (You can look at her blog without donating if you want to sneak a peek!)

And if you are dying to spend a weekend camping and getting your Bluegrass on, Here is info on ASBF, it is such a great time and has tons of stuff for kids as well as adults!



Ok, Ok, thanks for letting me brag about my friend and can I just say one more time? "Yay! I sold my first Skunk!!!" So Skyla, here's your first five dollars, you can get yourself a bottled water at the airport! XOXO